Songs and Hymns Newsletter, September 2015

School has started again in the Northern hemisphere, and the number of hymn research requests really picked up during the 2nd half of the month. A few are surprisingly out-of-season (eg for Pentecost hymns) - but on the site overall hymns for harvest-festival and creation-time have been popular.

And as well as research requests, the end of September saw a lot of work on a collection of hymns and songs for the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux.

Blessings on our King

No details other than the title was provided, but most likely this request is for the hymn by Frank Andersen. See more information about it here

Colours of Day

This folk-style hymn from England - which was actually a hit on the popular-music charts back in the day - was first requested back in November 2014. There is now an information page about it.

Come to the Water

This setting of Isaiah 55 by Fr Frank Andersen is available here - and that's probably what the person who submitted this request was looking for. There's another setting by John Foley which is also very well known in English-speaking countries, but that has four verses, and the request here was for a three-verse hymn.

Faith of our Fathers

This is a fascinating hymn: written to honour the faithfulness of persecuted Catholics in England and Ireland - but adopted by American Protestants who believed it was written by about their founding Fathers. It's even sung to distinctly different tunes in the two countries. Read more about it here.

God is Love

This hymn by American Fr Clarence Rivers has been requested a few times. You can now find information about it here - although it's really not suitable for group singing.

God Said Set my People Free

This short chorus (more imploring than praise) has the same name as a longer song which was published in the 1950s.

O Food of Angels

Very little is known about this hymn: the words were on a website or two, but so far no examples or information about the tune has been found.

Salve Regina

An interesting request. The Salve Regina is one of four antiphons (prayers that are often sung) used in the Catholic liturgy. There have been many different music settings of it - and it's not clear which one the requestor has in mind. There is a write-up of the prayer (including PowerPoint slides) here.

Shepherd of my Soul

Written by evangelical Marty Nystrom, this song is sometimes used as a hymn in more traditional churches.

They Were All Used of God

A short children's song, based on Judges 3:31 and referring to some very interesting animals, this was requested back in May.

Don't see your request here

Every month, there are a number of requests which just don't have enough information to track down the intended hymn or song. If you made a request during June but don't see it listed here, then you might like to try again try again. It really helps if you can give:

Some phrases that aren't likely to be included in other hymns

Words from several different verses

Any information about the author or composer

The country where you heard the son.

Getting updates about requested songs and hymns

Subscribe to the GodSongs.net mailing list and you will be notified when new hymns and hymnal-listing are added, and when new round-ups are posted. But make sure that you respond to the verification-request email that Feedburner sends - you need to click on the link in it, so that your subscription is complete and your messages are sent.

Are you looking for a hymn or song?

Are you looking for a particular song or hymn? Put in a request using the hymn research request tool, and it will be responded to in next month's roundup post.